RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v
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the government provided land to industry at nominal prices for a period of about twenty years as an inducement for investors. When this original lease expired, the industrialists had to pay the market price for their land. But when the renewal became imminent in 1971, the cotton spinners joined force with twenty-six industrial bodies to oppose this re-assessment of industrial land value. They also obtained the support of all the unofficial members in the Legislative Council. Even though the government maintained that the legality and validity of the re-evaluation was incontestable, it finally agreed to modify the statutes in June, 1973, after a protracted confrontation, (Hong Kong Cotton Spinners Association 1973; Miners 1981: 357-359). Yet in spite of their substantial political power, the spinners expressed a passive attitude towards politics. Their views were couched in a common format: 'It would be good if the government would do this and that. But we know these would not happen'. Even the most prominent public figure among them, A22, confessed that he took up unofficial positions in the government because he was invited to do so and he 'hated to say no'. They were hardly the revolutionary bourgeoisie as portrayed by Marx which 'creates a world after its own image'. (Marx and Engels 1967:84)

In their defensive posture, political vocabularies were conspicuous by their absence. Terms such as democracy, private property, equality, elections and so on were never mentioned. The recurrent phrase was 'peace and stability'. The theme of nationalism, so dominant among American, African and the pre-war Southeast Asian Chinese businessmen (see Seider 1974: 807; Heilbroner 1964: 30-31; Stokes 1974: 557-579; Wong 1975: 117-120), was raised by just two spinners. B1 mentioned this to dismiss the idea:

'In Hong Kong it is money [that accounts for executive turnover]. In South Korea, you can say you are working for your country. But here? (He shrugged).'

The sole local-born spinner, B4, admitted to some 'nationalistic' sentiment:

'I would want a sense of belonging and like Hong Kong to develop. I wish to try to create a society of my own identity,
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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v
Table 7: Hong Kong Cotton Spinners' Attitude Toward Competition and Cooperation

157

  
    Choice
    Number
    Percentage
  
  
    Competition needed for prosperity
    18
    53
  
  
    Competition unnecessary
    2
    6
  
  
    Cooperation instead of competition
    14
    41
  
  
    No answer
    1
    
  
  
    TOTAL
    35
    100
  

Source: Interviews, 1978,

* reactions towards the statement that ‘local textile mills should join together to overcome external difficulties instead of competing among themselves.’ Most of the respondents, irrespective of their actual choices, said that this was theoretically desirable. They saw clearly the tangible benefits of combining their medium-sized mills together to form integrated industrial organizations. It had been a long-cherished hope, said B32:

'We have the [Hong Kong Cotton Spinners'] Association, and there are thirty-three spinners averaging 20,000 spindles per mill. Each mill produces over ten varieties of products. This is very uneconomical. If we can specialize, each producing a particular type, then the cost can be lowered sharing the same offices, buying cotton together. During recessions, we have discussed this possibility. But once business picked up, (he made a scrambling gesture with his hands).'

What was the main obstacle if there were so much to be gained? A25 provided an insightful answer:

'Among the mill owners, we are all good friends though we are competitors at the same time. We would talk about technical things, comparing machines and suggesting others to try some new equipment. But everybody wants to be their own boss, and all of us are almost of the same size. It is not like there are large companies and very small ones. In Hong Kong, all the spinners founded their companies
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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1983
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/j9607p61v
170

Glassburner, Bruce, and James Riedel. 1972. “Government in The Economy of Hong Kong", Economic Record 48, No. 1: 58-75.

Heilbroner, Robert Louis. 1964. "The View From The Top: Reflections on a Changing Business Ideology". In The Business Establishment, ed. by E.F. Cheit, New York, John Wiley and Sons, pp. 1-36.

Hirschmeier, Johannes. 1964. The Origins of Entrepreneurship in Meiji Japan. Cambridge, Harvard University Press.

Ho, Ping-ti. 1962. The Ladder of Success in Imperial China: Aspects of Social Mobility, 1368-1911. New York and London, Columbia University Press.

Hong Kong Cotton Spinners Association. 1973. "Annual Reports of The General Committee". Hong Kong, The Association, mimeographed.

King, Ambrose Y.C., and Davy H.K. Leung, 1975. "The Chinese Touch in Small Industrial Organization". Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Social Research Centre, occasional paper.

Levy, Marion J., Jr. 1955. “Contrasting Factors in The Modernization of China and Japan". In Economic Growth: Brazil, India, Japan, ed. by S. Kuznets, W.E. Moore, and J.J. Spengler, Durham, Duke University Press, pp. 496-536.

McClelland, David C. 1963. "Motivational Patterns in Southeast Asia with Special Reference to the Chinese Case". The Journal of Social Issues 19, No. 1: 6-19.

Mannheim, Karl. 1936. Ideology and Utopia. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. (1888) 1967. The Communist Manifesto. Harmondsworth, Penguin Books.

Mayer, K. 1953. "Business Enterprise: Traditional Symbol of Opportunity". British Journal of Sociology 4, No. 2: 160-180.

Miners, Norman, 1981. The Government and Politics of Hong Kong. Hong Kong, Oxford University Press.

Nichols, Theo. 1969. Ownership, Control, and Ideology: An Inquiry Into Certain Aspects of Modern Business Ideology. London, George Allen and Unwin.

Oksenberg, Michel. 1972. "Management Practices in The Hong Kong Cotton Spinning and Weaving Industry." Paper read at seminar on Modern East Asia, Columbia University.

Olson, Stephen M. 1972. "The Inculcation of Economic Values in Taipei Business Families". In Economic Organization in Chinese Society, ed. by William F. Willmott, Stanford, Stanford University Press, pp. 261-296.

Owen, Nicholas C. 1971. "Economic Policy in Hong Kong". In Hong Kong: The Industrial Colony, ed. by Keith Hopkins, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press.

Pan, F.K. 1974. "The Simple Truth of Management and Maintenance”, a lecture delivered on 21st June, Hong Kong.

Ryan, Edward, 1961. "The Value System of a Chinese Community in Java". Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University.

Seider, Maynard S. 1974. "American Big Business Ideology: A Content Analysis of Executive Speeches". American Sociological Review 39, No. 6: 802-815.
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